A new-look Pakistan cricket team, under the recently appointed head coach Mike Hesson, is set to host a young Bangladesh squad for a three-match T20 International series starting Wednesday in Lahore. Both nations enter the series with an eye on the T20 World Cup, scheduled in India and Sri Lanka in approximately eight months, and are navigating significant transitions with new coaching staff and revamped player rosters.

Pakistan, the 2009 world champions, have experienced a notable decline in their T20 performance over the past year, including a first-round exit from the 2024 World Cup. They have secured only three victories in their last 13 T20Is, two of which were against Zimbabwe, causing them to slip to eighth in the T20I rankings. In a bid to reverse this trend, Pakistan has made substantial changes, axing star batsmen Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, along with pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi. Salman Agha will captain the side, which recently lost a series 4-1 in New Zealand. Coach Hesson emphasized a clear vision for the team's style of play, stating, “We’ve been really clear around the style of play we want and then it’s about picking players that can do that. We’ve got a good number of T20Is between now and the World Cup. We will develop a depth of squad playing the way we want and the rankings will come in time because it is about the way we want to play.”

Bangladesh, ranked ninth, finds itself in a similar situation, having won only four of its last 12 T20Is and recently suffering series defeats against lower-ranked teams like the United States in 2024 and the United Arab Emirates earlier this month. They too have a new coach, West Indian Phil Simmons, who took charge in October. The Bangladesh squad will be without several senior players, including Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Mahmudullah, and Mushfiqur Rahim, who are either fully retired or have stepped away from T20Is. Liton Das will lead the team. Key fast bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman are sidelined with injuries. Mustafizur injured his thumb while playing in the Indian Premier League. Furthermore, new pace sensation Nahid Rana withdrew from the tour due to security fears stemming from the cross-border conflict between India and Pakistan. Simmons expressed the team's objective, saying, “We’re aiming to improve our cricket by performing well in this series.”

Adding to the series' unique circumstances, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided against using the Decision Review System (DRS) for these matches, citing cost issues and a perceived lack of interest in the series. A PCB source confirmed, “It is not cost effective for the board or broadcasters to have DRS technology in the series.” This is not an isolated incident, as DRS was also absent during the second phase of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which took place after the recent border conflict with India.

The tour itself was initially in doubt due to security concerns, particularly from the Bangladesh side. Ultimately, Bangladesh agreed to play a shortened series of three T20Is instead of the originally scheduled five. Several Bangladeshi players and support staff members reportedly opted out of the tour due to these security concerns. The remaining matches of the series are scheduled for Friday and Sunday, both to be held in Lahore.